Finance Essentials for Entrepreneurs

Your Simple Guide to Financial Competency!

Like I said before, you don’t need a degree in finance in order to begin a successful company. You don’t need to be able to debate complicated theories and philosophical arguments. What you need is a foundation in the basics.

That’s what I give you in Finance Essentialsfor Entrepreneurs. It’s got answers to all the basic questions you will have (or should have) as you start your company. You will learn the answers to questions such as:

• What is the MOST IMPORTANT financial document your startup will need to develop?
• What kind of essential information can I get from a simple cash flow statement?
• What are the most typical financial statements I will need to have, and why are they necessary?
• How can I develop assumptions about my business that will help me find out if my business can be profitable?
• What are the 3 questions that every entrepreneur should be able to answer about their startup?
• Where can I learn about the jargon that my investors will use?
• How do I adjust my projections so that they stay in touch with the reality of what is going on in my business?
• Do potential investors want to see conservative or aggressive growth progressions for my business?
• What kind of financial information do I need in order to raise my potential investors’ confidence level in my company?

And that’s not all that’s covered in this book. There is much more information that will be vital to the success of your startup. This book is your guide to developing, and understanding, a financial foundation for your startup!

But just because the questions were basic doesn’t mean they couldn’t negatively affect a startup. In fact, having the right answers to these questions could mean the difference between knowing where your money is going, and having your income slip away. It could mean the difference between getting investor funding, and having investors walk away.

A Step-By-Step Guide to Developing a P&L Statement

In Finance Essentialsfor Entrepreneurs, I have included a section on the one financial document that you will absolutely need to have when you meet with potential investors. Not only do you need to have it, you need to make sure it is done correctly. And, you’d better be able to explain why each number is on that statement!

This document is known as a Profit and Loss statement, or a P&L. This document gives investors (and you!) a good overview of where the business is, and where it is headed.

Having a well-researched, well-constructed P&L can mean the difference between an investor presentation that ends in disaster, and one that ends with you getting the funding you need!

I show you how to assemble this statement, piece-by-piece. Here are just a few things I provide for you in this section of my book:

• Simple definitions of the most common terms used in a P&L statement.
• The facts you can learn about your startup, just by looking at the P&L statement.
• The 3 components of every P&L statement. 
• You learn how to classify expenses and income on your statement.
• There’s more to employee costs than salary!
• Investors are looking for certain things on your P&L statement.
• There are standards in every industry regarding how much companies should spend on the different operations of the company (such as General & Administrative, Research & Development, etc.)

I give you all the information you need to develop this all-important document. I answer all the questions you might have, in a format that’s easy to understand, and easy to follow.

An Essential Tool for Every Startup

I wrote Finance Essentials for Entrepreneurs to be a tool you can use many times during the life of your startup. You can use the section on assumptions even before your company gets going, to predict whether your company has a chance of being profitable. Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many smart people waste a lot of money, and years of their lives, trying to make a company work, when in reality that company never had a chance.

As you get up and running, you will use Finance Essentialsfor Entrepreneurs to make sure that you know exactly where every dollar is coming from, and how much you are spending. This e-book will give you confidence as you move ahead, because you will have a firm grasp on the most important parts of your business.

One of the most important events you face in the history of your startup occurs when you begin to seek funding from outside sources. There’s no doubt about it-sitting down with a group of venture capitalists can be a daunting experience!

But you will have Finance Essentialsfor Entrepreneurs to use as you prepare to face potential investors. The e-book will make the experience a little less nerve-wracking, because you will know what investors are looking for. And you can be confident that your financial statement is in order, ready for review!

This eBook can be a great help, even if you hire someone to handle your financial operations. It will give you the background you need to oversee what that person is doing. You will also gain the knowledge you need in order to ask intelligent questions, and what to look for in order to make sure everything is going smoothly.

After all, it’s your business, and you need to be able to manage every aspect of it. Finance Essentialsfor Entrepreneurscan help you do just that!